9 Recipes that Prove Pigs in a Blanket is the Best Summertime Snack

Every great present deserves a good gift wrap, right? The beauty of what’s on the outside acts as a build up to the awesomeness of what waits within (unless that gift happens to be an artfully-wrapped stapler or necktie organizer). In any case, pigs in a blanket are a fine example of a present deserving of its adorning outer layer. You could say that cocktail wieners are nothing less than a gift from the processed meat gods and their doughy wrappers a testament to their exquisiteness.

During summer hot dog season, a tray filled with pigs in a blanket is the glutton’s equivalent of Christmas in July. And stuffing your face full of them is sort of like discovering that all of the presents under the tree are for you. If there were a Santa Claus of wieners, you’d probably ask him for all nine of these frank and festive bites.

1. Pizza Dough Dogs

Way before a certain delivery chain decided that rimming their pizzas in mini dogs was a bright idea, we were getting our crust-meets-wiener game on in high style. Get our Pizza Dough Dogs recipe.

2. Mini Pretzel Dogs

Host the Toast

Two game day snacks meet up here in one sporty package. With homemade pretzel dough wrapped around snappy dogs, they give you double the reason to slather on the mustard. Get the recipe here.

3. Jalapeño Cheddar Pigs in a Blanket

My Bacon-Wrapped Life

Jalapeño poppers can also work their way over from the other side of the sports-watching spread into these wieners. We’re starting to get the feeling that you can take any two game day foods and mash them up into one awesome snack. Get the recipe here.

Sorry corned beef and rye, but reuben toppings somehow taste all the more melty and saucy when baked into a crescent roll blanket. Get the recipe here.

5. Pigs in Sleeping Bags

Bon Appetit

If dogs rolled in dough from a tube is too declassé for you, this fancy pants version should appease your high-falutin’ tastes. With shallot and caraway-studded pork inside a puff pastry shell, they’ll fit right in at your next cotillion or yacht party. Get the recipe here.

6. Breakfast Pigs in a Blanket

Taste and Tell

Waking and baking can be a drag—so many ingredients to measure before you’ve even had your first cup of coffee! These tasty baked breakfast treats are so easy, however, that you could practically make them in your sleep. Get the recipe here.

7. Chinese Sausage in a Blanket

Martha Stewart Weddings

Pigs in a blanket are hardly a domestic affair—all the wieners of the world should get in on the fun. Chinese lap cheong sausage brings a salami-like texture and sweet flavor to the table, which complements the butteriness of the puff pastry wrappers. Get the recipe here.

8. Cheesy Wonton Hot Dogs

Cheap Recipe Blog

An eye towards globe-trotting ingredients can also work the other way around, setting its sights on internationally-inspired wrappers. Wonton skins make for a crackly and crisp blanket that practically wrap themselves around the dogs and cheddar cheese. Get the recipe here.

9. Asparagus In a Blanket

Not Eating Out in New York

Heresy, you say? Hardly! If you’d rather go meatless, fresh veggies like asparagus taste way better wrapped in dough than most of those sad, mealy tofu dogs you’ll find at the supermarket. Get the recipe here.

Miki Kawasaki is a New York City–based food writer and graduate of Boston University's program in Gastronomy. Few things excite her more than a well-crafted sandwich or expertly spiced curry. If you ever run into her at a dinner party, make sure to hit her up for a few pieces of oddball culinary trivia.